Amatsi the Swashbuckler
by NomiHazelrah
Summary: Mild swearing and violence. Amatsi di Cavaanani is a thief without a family or past. These things taken form her by Irenicus, she swears to kill him.


Author's Note: Well, I promised some friends I would write something. So I did. This is the first part of an involved series (those who know the game I'm writing about will know what I mean!) set in Faerun. I don't own Faerun, in fact the only character I posses is Amatsi di Cavaanani. Sorry about the chapter being so short, but I thought I might as well release what I have now, since I won't be having time to write until next weekend...

Chapter 1 – Dungeon

The faint click of the chains awoke her.

The muted sound assaulted her aching head as she slowly came awake. There was blood in her mouth and on the floor.

From the corner of the dungeon, a dark figure approached.

Imoen did not know where her sister was. It was important to find her sister now. Her sister could help her.

She slipped into the shadows of the wall as a giant creature strode past. It was humanoid

And resembled a brown lump of earth. Earth Golem. The Golem continued down the metal platform, past the rows of cages where experiments were kept. He spoke to the man at the far end.

"More intruders have entered the complex, master." His voice was deep and earthy, such as grinding stones.

The man replied, and with a flick of his hand and some incantation vanished in a glow of pure white light. The Golem returned by the same corridor, Imoen shrinking even further into the shadows. The room was now empty, and Imoen stepped onto the platform, creeping forward to the far end where she heard the conversation take place. Inside the cage was a young woman who had passed out. A round, pale face was framed by dark red hair that swept down around her in lazy waves. Dressed in black leather armor of some kind, she looked like a fallen ghost...or vampire. Imoen checked the lock, turning it over in her skilled hands. She quickly foraged around in her belt bag and extracted a bent shape of metal. Jamming it into the lock until she heard a click, she pried the lock open and cautiously opened the barred door. Was this woman even alive? A bud of fear uncurled inside Imoen, and she spoke out despite the need for secrecy.

"Wake up, wake up you. Come on, we have to get out of here!" her childish voice reverberated around the cold, damp walls, throwing back her fear.

The woman stirred, much to Imoen's relief. Her eyelids lifted to reveal dark red eyes as unnatural as her hair.

"Who...are...you?" the women croaked.

"I'm sorry, but we really have to go." Imoen urged gently. "I don't know when he will come back."

The women winced, and after a second forced out another sentence.

"At...least tell me your name."

"Imoen. Yours?"

"Amatsi." Amatsi now looked Imoen over. This woman was more like a girl, with a childish voice and features. Her straight hair was dyed a dull pink and rested just above her shoulders. Her eyes were brown, and her lips were painted pink as well. For a twisted moment, Amatsi hoped that the girl was competent enough to help her escape. Another thought came swiftly to her mind, however.

"There are others here." Said Amatsi, words coming easier now that she was more awake and the headache was almost gone.

Imoen seemed to brighten at this. "You know where they are?"  
Amatsi slowly lead Imoen down another row of cells, though walking was still painful. Almost all of them were empty, not counting the countess corpses and skulls that littered them. Halfway down, two cells facing each other were occupied, however. The first cell Imoen glanced in contained Minsc, a ranger whom she had known for a long time. Large and muscled, yet not the most intelligent human, Minsc kept the company of a small hamster by the name of Boo. He had shaved his head bald and upon it a strange blue tattoo had been painted on it.

The next cell contained another of her friends, Jaheira. Jaheira was a half-elf who belonged to a secret organization known as the Harpers. Dusky blonde, braided hair rested behind her pointed ears, a gift from the elves. Autumn brown eyes were strangely feminine, set in a tanned face. A strong, sturdy woman balanced with a druid's earthly powers, she was a ruthless warrior. Set in her determined face were lines of deep worry.

After quick introductions, each member of the new party felt some security. Imoen produced a key (which she allegedly found when she was sneaking about) to unlock Jaheira's cage. Minsc happily pried his open with sheer brute strength. Equipped with the mediocre weapons and armor Imoen had found in the same room as the key, the group crept out of the cell room.

As they crept down a dank passage silently, Amatsi's eyes came to rest on Imoen's belt. To be more precise, what was attached to it, among small traps and various-shaped lockpicks. Not wishing to break the silence that was keeping them unnoticed, she noted only to herself that Imoen was carrying a very sharp, very well-made dagger that held a weak aura of magic. Amatsi herself had been stripped of all her weapons once she was taken into captivity, and as far as she could tell so had Minsc and Jaheira. This then made her wonder how Imoen had kept the belt and her thieving tools as well.

Ah, but Imoen hadn't been captured and tortured along with the others. Supposedly. Her mind hurting too much to think any more, Amatsi shrugged inwardly and focused on the outward surroundings.

They had come to a halt. Imoen was shaking hard, and Amatsi carefully made her way to where she stood.

"Imoen." Amatsi gingerly touched her on her shoulder. Imoen jumped at the touch, but kept her eyes on the contents of the room.

It was a boiler room or sorts. A few boxes and crates were piled around. Rusty pipes connected to a central machine. What was most disturbing about this room, however, what was most disturbing about this room was where those pipes lead.

Giant glass jars were filled with fluid, bubbling thickly. Shadowy forms were in the jars, barely discernable. Amatsi found that she didn't want to know what were in those jars. Suddenly, she jumped when Imoen began to speak.

"I know this room..._he_ showed it to me. These things...in the jars...they used to be people." Imoen's shaky voice filled the room.

_Goddess. _Amatsi evoked her patron as the figures crystallized in front of her eyes. Limbs, heads...some of them _were still alive._ Backing away to the wall, she was almost sick. Jaheira gasped softly. Minsc showed no reaction, as he was busy petting Boo, who had come out of his pocket.

Once Amatsi had gotten control of herself, she strode out of the room silently. Jaheira looked at Minsc and Imoen. "We must find a way out." She said, voice colored with a strange accent. Minsc nodded; Imoen simply turned her back on the room and followed Amatsi, still shaking.

They continued their pace, occasionally running into small bands of even smaller goblins. Every person, even Imoen, was a competent warrior, and the bands were easily dispatched of. What worried Amatsi more was the question of where the man who imprisoned them was. There was no point in maintaining silence any more; they had created an impressive amount of noise when slaying the goblins. Minsc and Imoen especially wanted to make conversation as they wove their way through the endless maze that was the dungeon.

"So, how did you manage to keep Boo from the guys that captured us?" Imoen said in her annoyingly childish voice.

Minsc's was no better. Brash and outspoken, the man could wake the dead and not even be shouting.

"Why, Boo is an intelligent creature. He hid in places that no man would dare to search!"

"Eww. I really don't want to think about that. Really." Imoen replied, disgusted.

"How is it that you didn't get thrown in a cage, Imoen?" Amatsi voiced what had been bothering her for some time.

"Well, they did get me at first, but I got away. I went into the shadows until Irenicus stopped looking for me."

"Irenicus?"

"Jon Irenicus. He's the guy that was doing...experiments on you." Imoen was using her nervous look again. Like a rabbit that's been spotted by an owl.

Well, at least she had a name to the face now. The mottled, sickly face of the mage that did 'experiments' on her, to put it lightly. Amatsi was still unsure of the extent of the psychic damage he had inflicted on her. Jaheira was being very quiet, so Amatsi decided to strike up some conversation.

"Jaheira. Are you alright?"

"My husband is here somewhere." Jaheira said quietly.

Oh. "I'm sorry. I'm sure we'll find him soon."

The door at the end of the hallway was locked. Imoen tried the lock, but had no luck. She turned to the party.

"I'm really sorry. I can't get it open. I'm not that much of a thief I guess." It was true. Imoen has left her studies of thievery to become a mage once she had grown up.

Amatsi studied the door for a moment, and reaching into her boot, took out a key. She slipped it into the keyhole and moved it around a bit until there was a click. Then, she put her hand up against the door and pushed it inward. There was something strangely satisfying, she remarked, about being a better thief then Imoen. Maybe some part of her was still trying to justify disliking Imoen.

Amatsi stopped smiling when she saw what was in the room. Another jar. This one had a twisted corpse that would have been rotting, had it not been preserved. Then, the thing turned _towards _Amatsi. Its mouth opened, and a sick croak emerged to form words.

"Ahh...ahh...who be thee? Servants of the master?"

Jaheira clamped her hand over her mouth. Imoen closed her eyes. But Amatsi stood her ground and looked the thing in the eye.

"We do not serve the dog called Irenicus." She spat out.

"Then...you must help me. Ahh. Take what remains of my life and give...me peace."

Amatsi reached over and released the latch. The power source tumbled out and rolled across the ground. The man closed his eyes and relaxed, slipping into death. Once the deed had been done, Amatsi faced Imoen.

"Is that kind of death truly that bad? In cases such as these life is worse than Hell."

Imoen, to Amatsi's surprise, did not scream at her in rage or cry out in horror. Instead, she calmly replied in a low voice that Amatsi had never heard before;

"Death...is pretty. Oh, why did I think that? Let's just get out of here. I don't want to think until we're out of here. Don't want to think."

"I agree with Imoen about getting out of here," Jaheira said, after a silence. "We are at the mercy of our captor until we escape, and once we have escaped his prison we may extract our revenge. We must find out what happened to our friends, whether or not they have escaped unhurt."

"You are right, Jaheira," replied Minsc. "Perhaps Dynaheir is with Khalid and they have escaped. You are very smart to think that."

"Dynaheir...Khalid? Are those friends of yours?" Amatsi asked.

"Khalid is my husband, and as you already know, we have been separated." Said Jaheira softly. "Dynaheir is Minsc's...witch."

At the risk of offending them more, Amatsi withheld her further questions about Dynaheir.

"Did you have people with you when you came here, Amatsi?" said Imoen.

"No." replied Amatsi. "I travel alone."

It was a lie. Amatsi had already seen the remains of her lover in the cage beside her. His blood was still on her clothing and in her hair. He was just another experiment that had been performed on her by Irenicus to summon her rage. How does one rage when they have nothing left but pain?

With the dead man's power cylinder, they were able to activate an Earth Golem. The mindless giant immediately opened all locked doors in the complex when asked to. From there, they passed through a giant metal door that was previously inaccessible. This door led them into a cavernous, circular room. At the far end stood a Djinn, or as commonly known, a Genie.

"Amatsi, I was expecting you." The Djinn said good-naturedly.

"I was not." Amatsi replied coldly. She wasn't in the mood for games at this time.

"Before you pass through this room, you must answer one question," replied the Djinn. "Just a simple question. May I ask it?"

"Of course, if we are then allowed to leave." Amatsi replied. She came across sounding like a bitch, but she didn't _care._ Imoen had evoked all her emotions with that simple question of traveling with others. She wanted to extract every drop of pain possible from Jon Irenicus-

"You are in a cell. In the cell next you yours is a friend or lover. You cannot see of talk to each other."

_Lover. _Damn, damn, damn!

"A man, your captor, presents you with the situation. Both of you have buttons in your cage. If you press your button, you will die. If the other presses the button, he or she will die as well. If you both press the button, both of you will die. If you both do not press the button, both of you will die. Will you press the button?"

"Yes." Replied Amatsi without missing a beat. If only sacrifice was that easy...

"Very good," said the Djinn. "I am impressed with your courage, or stupidity, either one. May your journeys never present you with this situation."

And with that, the Djinn twirled in the air and vanished.

Amatsi, saying nothing, pushed open the next door.

They were in a forest. It took a moment for Amatsi to realize that they were not inside. It was magically lighted, and one could see how the ceiling stretched far above. A faint singing hung in the air, and three female-formed spirits emerged from the trees, water and ground.

"Are you servants of the master?" asked the Water spirit, echoing the man in the jar's meeting words.

"We are not servants! We are Minsc and Boo!" Replied Minsc.

"We were his captives," added Jaheira, "and are trying to escape."

"We are his bound slave-girls." Said the Earth spirit, and she did not need to say anymore. Amatsi was astounded as this sick man's nerve, imprisoning spirits. The tree spirit for one had to be brought here when she was nothing but a seedling...

"We smell his taint on all of you," Said the Tree spirit. "And we wish you well in trying to escape. We only wish we could come with you."

"I know of a way." Said Jaheira.

The three spirits brightened at this, but did not want to restore their hope completely.

"If we were to carry a sampling of each of your elements to the Druid Grove, we would bring you there. A seed from the Oak, a bottle of water, and a handful of earth would be all we need to transport you."

The spirits were skeptical, but each presented Jaheira with the parts. At Jaheira's instructions, each curled up inside the small patches of nature that possessed them. When it was done and the spirits were safely sleeping inside. Jaheira gingerly placed the contents into her pack. Amatsi smiled sadly.

"I hope it works, Jaheira. I hope we can all leave this hell hole."

Jaheira smiled as well, but warmly. "It is all that I can hope for."

They came to a bedroom that looked like it belonged to a woman. A delicate mirror, comb, and several shades of makeup. Amatsi felt a bud of regret for abandoning the lady's life bloom in her heart. Shaking it off, she opened up every drawer and chest in the room. She found a strange, cream-white dagger, and a belt. She clipped them to her black pants, ignoring the alarms that were screaming. If Irenicus wanted to get her, she was ready to tear him apart. There were also some items of magical armor, which Minsc donned, being the fighter. Amatsi also found a key that stuck to her hand if she tried to drop it, which she suspected belonged to the strange portal they had encountered in the cavern. Suggesting this to the others, they returned to that location.

Amatsi stepped up to the silver shimmering portal, and slipped the key into its holder. It worked perfectly. The last thing she could remember before she woke up again was the silver mist enveloping her and the others.


End file.
